Summary

Designed to help students become intelligent consumers of educational research, the fifth edition of this text introduces basic research principles to those who may later use research in their work. The author utilizes aids to facilitate student learning, including chapter concept maps, study questions, a book website, and more than 90 examples from published articles, including 9 full-length articles.

Author Biography

James H. McMillan is Professor of Education in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, Chair of the Department of Foundations of Education, and Director of the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium.

Table of Contents

To the Instructor

xiii

To the Student

xvii

Introduction to Research in Education

1

(26)

Sources of Knowledge

2

(3)

Personal Experience

2

(1)

Tradition

3

(1)

Authority

3

(1)

Research

4

(1)

The Nature of Scientific Inquiry

5

(2)

Purpose of Scientific Inquiry

5

(1)

Characteristics of Scientific Inquiry

6

(1)

Purpose of Theories

6

(1)

Applying Systematic Inquiry to Education

7

(1)

Types of Educational Research

8

(5)

Two Traditions of Research: Quantitative and Qualitative

9

(3)

Basic, Applied, Evaluation, and Action Research

12

(1)

Educational Research Report Format

13

(11)

Title and Author(s)

14

(1)

Abstract

14

(1)

Introduction

15

(1)

Review of Literature

15

(1)

Specific Research Question or Hypothesis

15

(1)

Method and Design

15

(1)

Results

16

(1)

Discussion

16

(1)

Conclusions

16

(1)

References

16

(8)

Anatomy of a Research Article

24

(1)

Study Questions

24

(1)

Sample Test Questions

25

(2)

Variables, Research Problems, and Hypotheses

27

(20)

Variables in Educational Research

28

(4)

Conceptual and Operational Definitions

28

(2)

Types of Variables

30

(2)

Research Problems

32

(5)

Sources for Research Problems

34

(3)

Consumer Tips: Criteria for Evaluating Research Problems

37

(3)

Hypotheses

40

(4)

Why Researchers Use Hypotheses

40

(1)

Types of Hypotheses

41

(3)

Consumer Tips: Criteria for Evaluating Research Hypotheses

44

(1)

Study Questions

45

(1)

Sample Test Questions

45

(2)

Locating and Reviewing Related Literature

47

(28)

The Purpose of Reviewing Related Literature

48

(2)

Refining the Research Problem

48

(1)

Developing Significance for the Research

49

(1)

Identifying Methodological Techniques

49

(1)

Identifying Contradictory Findigns

49

(1)

Developing Research Hypotheses

49

(1)

Learning About New Information

50

(1)

Steps to Review Related Literature

50

(17)

Step One: Use Secondary Sources to Locate Existing Reviews and Related Research